Geometry has always annoyed me, actually until circle geometry in year 11 which was pretty awesome. I find dynamic geometry to be the most frustrating thing on the planet and I don’t think I will use it very often at all just because I get so annoyed by it. However, i would like to use it because I actually think it is an amazing pedagogical tool. I would definitely want my students to be able to use it because it makes you think about how shapes are made up and what are actually the important features of shapes. For example, drawing a square on paper is easy. Drawing a square using sketchpad or geogebra is a nightmare. A nightmare in which you have to think about what constitutes a square and how you can transfer this knowledge onto the program. And a square is the simplest shape Ican think of! No wonder I get so angry with it.

I actually get really angry because I’ve been trying to make a rectangle so that the perimeter stays the same but the area changes as you move it around. I found an example on the internet after much searching, and tried to copy it for days without much luck. Or much skill. Every time I thought I knew how to do it it turned out that I still couldn’t. This is the kind of technology that causes teacher burnout, but also causes a deep respect of any student who can master it.

I am definitely willing to use dynamic geometry in the classroom, but i think I will need a lot more trainign and practice to make it.